HOW TO KNOW A PERSON

Here’s a very practical book you’ll find to be very helpful as you strive to better connect with others: HOW TO KNOW A PERSON The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen by David Brooks.

Here’s a synopsis via the publisher’s website:

ABOUT HOW TO KNOW A PERSON

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A practical, heartfelt guide to the art of truly knowing another person in order to foster deeper connections at home, at work, and throughout our lives—from the author of The Road to Character and The Second Mountain

As David Brooks observes, “There is one skill that lies at the heart of any healthy person, family, school, community organization, or society: the ability to see someone else deeply and make them feel seen—to accurately know another person, to let them feel valued, heard, and understood.”

And yet we humans don’t do this well. All around us are people who feel invisible, unseen, misunderstood. In How to Know a Person, Brooks sets out to help us do better, posing questions that are essential for all of us: If you want to know a person, what kind of attention should you cast on them? What kind of conversations should you have? What parts of a person’s story should you pay attention to?

Driven by his trademark sense of curiosity and his determination to grow as a person, Brooks draws from the fields of psychology and neuroscience and from the worlds of theater, philosophy, history, and education to present a welcoming, hopeful, integrated approach to human connection. How to Know a Person helps readers become more understanding and considerate toward others, and to find the joy that comes from being seen. Along the way it offers a possible remedy for a society that is riven by fragmentation, hostility, and misperception. How to Know a Person is for anyone searching for connection, and yearning to be understood.

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/652822/how-to-know-a-person-by-david-brooks

Three Podcasts You Should Subscribe To

Podcasts are one of my favorite ways to learn. I love that they are free and on demand (you can listen and learn any time you want to). Here are 3 you should check out:

• Craig Groeschel Leadership Podcast
  In this podcast, you’ll get timely insights from Craig and his guests to make the most of your leadership potential, you’ll learn to solve problems in new ways, and you’ll be empowered to take your next steps in leading others.
• The Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast
  Ever wish you could have a conversation with some of the top leaders in ministry today? Well, that’s what this leadership podcast is designed to bring you.
• Building a Story Brand with Donald Miller
  This podcast will help you clarify your message and grow your business.

Your turn… What are some of your favorite podcasts?

Three Forces That Shape Character by @MichaelHyatt

This will be my last post for a few weeks (I plan to resume after the Holidays but probably not until early February as I’ll be tied up with planning a big Men’s Conference with Donald Miller and Bob Goff). So, as I close out this year I thought you would be blessed with some thoughts from a recent Leadership Podcast by Michael Hyatt. This episode focuses on the 3 forces that shape character. I’ll mention them here and encourage you to go and check out the complete episode (by the way, if you don’t already follow Michael Hyatt; do yourself a favor and start today — he consistently provides great resources focusing on Intentional Leadership).

There are three forces that shape who we are at the core of our being:

1. The input we consume.
2. The relationships we pursue.
3. The habits we acquire.

Your turn… You can listen to, watch, or read the transcript from this podcast here. What resonates with you from this podcast?

Three Books for Dads, Men and Leaders

Here are 3 books I’ve recently heard great things about; I haven’t read them yet but I plan to do so soon:

• First Team Dad: Your Playbook for a Winning Family by J. Drew Pittman

“Premier agent Drew Pittman loves sports. Maybe even more than you do. But an experience early in his management career convinced him that a life of significance is about faith, family, and football–and always in that order. So how do you make significance your game plan? Competitive sports are filled with lessons about motivation, perseverance, hard work, and collaboration–and these lessons are powerfully transferable to everyday life. Yet few men apply them to the most important arena they’ll ever play in: their home. In First Team Dad, Drew Pittman shares the principles that can change the game in your family, straight from a sports insider who has field-tested each and every one with his home team. With heart-pounding stories of unforgettable plays and one-in-a-million players, First Team Dad is your ticket to create a legacy of significance in your family.”

• Mansfield’s Book of Manly Men: An Utterly Invigorating Guide to Being Your Most Masculine Self by Stephen Mansfield

“The Western world is in a crisis of discarded honor, dubious integrity, and faux manliness. It is time to recover what we have lost. Stephen Mansfield shows us the way. Working with timeless maxims and stirring examples of manhood from ages past, Mansfield issues a trumpet call of manliness fit for our times. ‘My goal in this book is simple,” he says. “I want to identify what a genuine man does—the virtues, the habits, the disciplines, the duties, the actions of true manhood—and then call men to do it.’”

• Home Run Life: God’s Game Plan for Life and Leadership by Kevin Myers

“For five hard years Christian leader Kevin Myers struggled personally and professionally. But it was during that time that God pointed out where he was going wrong and showed him the biblical pattern for living. It proceeded to transform his life, leadership, ministry, and relationships. During that time John Maxwell also became his mentor. Together, using a baseball diamond as an analogy for following God’s plan for life, Myers and Maxwell provide a clear path forward while helping you keep your priorities in order and your eyes on the prize. What is that pattern?

Connection with God: Winning Dependence
Character: Winning Within
Community: Winning with Others
Competence: Winning Results

Challenging, heart-felt, and insightful, Myers’ story will connect with anyone who feels their life is falling short of God’s promises. The hard-won lessons Myers learned, along with insightful comments and on-point application from Maxwell, will make it possible for you to win in this performance-based culture without losing your soul. There are no shortcuts or steals in the spiritual journey of life. HOME RUN is a guidebook for living life and learning how to succeed God’s way.

Your turn… What are some other books dads, men, and leaders should check out?

Three Leadership Messages Every Leader Should Listen To via @AndyStanley

Leaders are learners… I believe every leader would benefit by regularly listening to Andy Stanley’s Leadership Podcast. Here are 3 messages every leader should listen to:

• Listen, Learn and Lead (2/8/13)
  Learn a skill that every leader needs to learn.
• Better Before Bigger (5/3/13)
  Learn a principle that will help any organization grow.
• Beyond You Leader (8/1/14)
  Andy will explore how your leadership can last beyond your lifetime.

Your turn… Share your thoughts on these messages and/or on others you’ve heard Andy share.

Three Books Focusing on Developing Next Generation Leaders

Developing leaders doesn’t just happen; you must be intentional. Here are 3 books focusing on how to develop next generation leaders:

• Next Generation Leader: 5 Essentials for Those Who Will Shape the Future by Andy Stanley

“The Next Generation Leader has been challenging young Christians eager to learn, grow, and lead in ministry or in the marketplace since its original release in 2003. Now with an all-new look, this repackaged version continues to advance the mission of the first release. Mentoring young leaders as they face the unique issues of a changing world has been pastor and bestselling author Andy Stanley’s passion for more than a decade. Here he shares material from his leadership training sessions, developed to address essential leadership qualities such as character, clarity, courage, and competency. This is the perfect guide for any new leader—or for the mentor of a future leader!”

Erich’s note: this is one of Andy’s best books; you’ll find it helpful for personal development and developing other leaders.

• Protégé: Developing the Next Generation of Church Leaders by Steve Saccone

“Have you as a leader ever wished for more hands-on development and mentoring from a ministry veteran? Wouldn’t that kind of investment accelerate, deepen and intensify your leadership skills and impact? God is raising up a generation of young ministry leaders—protégés—who need guidance in their calling to serve and lead people in the pursuit of God. These protégés need our help. Steve Saccone has a history of being part of this calling to help the called. With over a decade of leadership development experience, he has, through God’s help, catalyzed the growth and character of protégés around the globe. In this book Saccone shows how you can raise up leaders from within your own community and develop them into passionate, faithful servants of God. You will be personally challenged to grow as you discover how to cultivate a culture of leadership development in your ministry. In a sense we are all protégés who have much to learn and much to teach—and we can either help those who are behind us or seek help from those who are ahead of us. Along the way, we’ll watch the kingdom grow in our midst.”

Erich’s note: you can also download a brief summary called Protégé: A Visual Experience.

• Mentor Like Jesus by Regi Campbell

“More time, spent with fewer people, equals greater kingdom impact. Desiring to see God widely embraced as more than a remote concept, entrepreneur Regi Campbell began a deeply successful mentoring program years ago that has become one of his greatest joys. Though it seemed radical at first—spending more time with less people to further an all important message—he soon realized this is the discipleship model Jesus set out during his ministry; today two billion people worldwide embrace the wisdom He entrusted to a small band of disciples two thousand years ago. Mentor Like Jesus is Campbell’s revelation of what he now calls “next generation mentoring,” an exponentially rewarding process that is resulting in “lives changed, marriages saved, children dealt with in a more loving way.” Readers of any age and in any situation will clearly understand how the return on a meaningful investment in another person is truly immeasurable.”

Erich’s note: for more great resources from Regi Campbell check out his website Radical Mentoring (including a program you can use to mentor people). You can also download his free ebook, The Mentoring Manifesto: A Radical Plan to Change the World a Few Men at a Time for a quick overview of the power of mentoring.

Your turn… What are your thoughts on these resources?

Three Traits of a Great Leader

Jeff Goins, a popular writer and blogger, recently shared a good article called What Does a Great Leader Look Like? In this article he shares 3 lessons he learned from a mentor of his, Seth Barnes. Here is an excerpt of the 3 traits he mentioned:

1. Great leaders share their time

Remarkable influencers give their time and talent, almost recklessly, away. Seth’s philosophy of this was simple: keep showing up in people’s lives, and eventually you will win them over. Leadership isn’t about charisma or any special personality traits; it’s just about showing up.

2. Great leaders share what they know

Leadership is not only about sharing your time. It also requires opening up about your past, giving insight into processes that otherwise could only be learned through experience. This is difficult, because it requires a certain amount of humility and vulnerability. You have to be willing to “go there,” talking about your failures and the things you could’ve done better.

3. Great leaders share their power

It’s not enough to share your time and knowledge. To give away wisdom without providing the context to apply it is not leadership. It’s advising. And there’s great value to being an advisor; it’s just not all a leader does. Great leaders understand the law of legacy, that on their own they can only be so good. They know what makes them great is not them, but what they leave behind.So what determines the success of a leader is their ability to invest in others and multiply themselves.

Jeff goes on to share three simple things you can do as a leader to put these principles in practice:

1. Notice something special in someone else (or just plain notice them as a person).
2. Affirm gifts and talents as you see them develop.
3. Empower and entrust others, giving them opportunity to fail, learn, and eventually succeed.

Your turn… What are some other great traits you see in leaders? What next step do you need to take?

Three Blog Posts You Should Read

Here are 3 posts I came across recently that I thought you would enjoy:

• Overcoming the Fat Baby Syndrome by Dan Bouchelle
• Orthodoxy: So Good Things Can Run Wild by Jonathan Storment
• 15 Quick Leadership Reminders by Brad Lomenick

Your turn: What are some other blog posts worth checking out?

Three Leadership Resources via @MichaelHyatt

Michael Hyatt is an author, popular blogger, and a provider of great resources. His blog focuses on “intentional leadership.” His mission is to help leaders leverage their influence. Here are 3 of his leadership resources you should take a look at:

• Why Leaders Exist
• What My Dog Trainer Reminded Me About Leadership
• 99 Resources to Make Your Personal and Business Life Hum

Note: make sure you sign up for Michael’s leadership podcast, This Is Your Life.

Your turn… What are your thoughts on these resources?

Three More Articles You Should Read

Here are 3 posts I recently came across that I think you would enjoy reading:

• What Your Calendar Says About Your View of God by Kara Powell
• Mountain Moving Mercy by Tullian Tchividjian
• Favorite Quotes from the Global Leadership Summit by Tony Morgan

Your turn… What are some other posts worth reading?

Related articles

• Tullian Tchividjian Talks About His New Book, “One Way Love”, and the Heart of Christianity (blackchristiannews.com)
• Lessons Learned from the Global Leadership Summit 2013- Coach Chuck on Leadership (cubeyondbaseball.com)
• Busyness without abiding = wheel spinning (livingmoreabundantly4christ.com)